1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for the preparation of selected isomers of dihydroxybenzenes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known that phenols can be prepared by sulfonation of benzene to produce a sulfonic acid which is thereafter converted by caustic fusion to the phenolate, the phenol being liberated by treatment with acid, acid gases, or the like. A process of producing polyhydroxy aromatic compounds by a process of dry fusion of an alkali metal aromatic poly sulfonate with an alkali metal hydroxide is disclosed and claimed in Webb U.S. Pat. No. 2,736,754. In such processes resorcinol is produced when the sulfonate is sodium m-benzenedisulfonate (cf. Noller, Textbook of Organic Chemistry, 2nd Edition, p. 394). Other processes, referred to in my copending application Ser. No. 602,768 filed Aug. 7, 1975, also a continuation-in-part of my application Ser. No. 334,270, filed Feb. 21, 1973, now abandoned disclose the controlled sulfonation-isomerization of alkyl aromatics to produce, upon caustic fusion of the resulting sulfonates, mixtures of isomers of alkylhydroxyaromatics.